Reporter missing in Libya; attacks continue in Yemen, Iraq

February 22, 2011 5:21 PM ET

New York, February 22, 2011--The Committee to
Protect Journalists is alarmed by the ongoing deterioration of conditions for
the media in the Middle East, including the disappearance of Atef al-Atrash, a
critical Libyan journalist, since anti-Qaddafi
demonstrations began February 17. The Internet has been intermittently down since Saturday
in the country, according to international news reports, and foreign
journalists continue to be denied entry. Al-Jazeera's signal in Libya remains
jammed, according to the network. In Yemen, security forces confiscated the
print run of an independent newspaper and at least one reporter was injured as
demonstrations turned violent. And in Iraq, 50 gunmen reportedly shot up an
independent television station while the staff of a local newspaper was forced to
evacuate their offices.

"The Libyan authorities and their
supporters should know that violence against journalists reporting on political
turmoil will not be tolerated,"said
Robert Mahoney, CPJ's deputy director. "We are concerned for the safety of all
journalists, in particular Atef al-Atrash."

Al-Atrash disappeared after reporting live on Al-Jazeera
from demonstrations in Benghazi on Thursday, the network reported. He also
reported that "several journalists" had been detained in the second largest
city of Libya but did not provide names. He added on the air that his mobile
phone service had been cut off and that he felt there was "a clear attemptbeing made to isolate him," although
he didn't name who he felt was pursuing him. Al-Atrash is a contributor to
several Libyan news websites, including Libya-Watanona and Libya
al-Mustakbal, where he often criticized the Libyan government. He also
covered local news from Benghazi.

While Libyan
authorities have denied entry to foreign journalists, several new organizations
have sent their correspondents to the Egyptian-Libyan border, where they are
waiting for an opportunity to enter the country, according to the U.K.
Guardian. According to multiple journalists, including CNN's Ben
Wedeman, who reported from eastern Libya, the Internet
has been going on and
offline for days. On Monday, Al-Jazeera reported that landlines and
mobile phones have been cut off. It also reported that the
government is jamming the network's signal from a security forces building
south of Tripoli. Al-Jazeera's signal has been intermittently jammed since
February 2, although the jamming intensified after anti-government protests began
in the country.

Journalists
continue to face harassment amid anti-government protests also in Yemen and
Iraq.On Sunday, Abdel Karim
Salam, a correspondent for Swiss Info, a Bern-based news website, was
hospitalized after pro-government supporters beat him while he was covering
anti-government protests in front of Sana'a University. On Saturday, security
forces confiscated Al-Yaqin newspaper. The independent weekly contained
a list of those injured and killed during Yemeni protests, and provided
extensive coverage of recent demonstrations.

Attacks on the press also continue in
Iraq. On Sunday, 50 gunmen raided a new, Sulaimaniya-based independent TV
station called Nalia Radio and Television, according to Metro Center to Defend
Journalists, a local press freedom group. Nalia TV only began broadcasting on
February 17, when protests began in Sulaimaniya. The broadcasting equipment was
destroyed by bullets and arson, Metro Center reported. Iran's Press TV reported
that two guards and a janitor were injured in the attack.

"They came in military uniforms," Twana
Othman, a manager at Nalia TV, told Press TV. "They wore special
hats so their faces could not be seen. They knew exactly what to shoot at and
what to destroy. Then they poured petrol and burned everything,"

Rahman Gharib,
a local journalist who reports for Metro Center, told CPJ: "I think the attack
on the station was connected to its editorial policy of covering the
demonstrations and giving voice to the protesters."

On February 17, Hawlati, an
independent Kurdish newspaper, evacuated its offices after threats from the
guards of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) building, Tariq Fattah, the
director of the newspaper told CPJ. "Our office is close to where the
demonstrations were taking place," he said. "The guards of the KDP were
shouting at the door of the paper that we are traitors and that we are standing
behind and leading the demonstrations."

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